Coursework Progress (From Oct 14th - Oct 25th)

In the past two weeks I have decided on a singer and album title for my first CD cover. The singer will be called Anya and the album name is Fragile. I chose Anya as it is quite an obscure name and it sounds realistic; you could image people talking about her. The music type is quite alternative, with a hint of 'easy listening' and my inspiration for this was Kodaline. Their music is alternative, and their album cover features a lake with people in the distance. This image doesn't really relate to the genre of the music so I based my album on this. 

I also collected some responses from my survey - the results showed that most people don't mind if the cover image doesn't relate to the genre of music. Most respondents said that they preferred the album cover to have a 'normal' style rather than black and white/sepia/bright, etc. 53.85% of people said that they preferred to have a photograph on the cover in stead of a cartoon, 3D graphics and so on and 42.31% of people said that they would rather have a plain cover rather than a busy one. 

I based my creations on the results I received, and I will still be collecting more throughout the half term to aid me in my coursework designs.

During this week and the last week I have designed various album covers using Photoshop, Dafont and various images from Google. The design above is similar to the idea I have for my final production. I plan on using the same font, and a similar picture of the pathway surrounded by trees, however I think I will have a girl in my image. I messed around with the settings on Photoshop and altered the image to my preferences - the image started out very bright, however I changed it so it looks more like a night time image.

I then began to create my back cover.This was just a quick draft, but it did include the main features that will be in the final production. However, I realised that the size was wrong and after a bit of thought, I decided that I would not be able to take my own picture of the sea due to where I live. 

I then altered the size and changed the background image. However, I am still unsure on whether I like that background or not. I am certain on the layout of the logos, barcode and small print, and I really like the plasters, but I feel that the colour of the plasters is too much of a contrast to the dark background and it is not very often that you see an album cover with the same image on the back and front. 

I began thinking about my second album in more detail towards the end of the week. I found a picture of my cousin on her website and used that as the main image for the album. I played around with the effects and made the image seem slightly more professional and more suitable for the album. I then found a font that I liked, which was quite girly but not over the top and used the 'Eyedropper tool' on her eyes, to get the colour of the writing. Her eyes are the main focus point of this album as she is looking directly towards the viewer so I thought that making the writing the same colour, would be a good idea. I put the writing vertically as it was a better fit and it gives the album some originality.

I plan to take my photos during the half term week, as I have got a whole week to change my mind and take a suitable image that will look good as an album cover. I have not yet completely decided what my second album will look like, or even the inserts but I have had a few good ideas.

Overall, I think the past few weeks have been very successful, and I have made some good decisions that will help me when it comes to creating the real thing. I have finally got the hang of Photoshop and really hope that everything turns out well. However, I think that I should manage my time better and start thinking in detail about the second album and the inserts. 

Coursework Progress. (Week beginning Oct 7th)

This week I have decided that I am going to do a CD cover for my coursework, so I textually analysed 3 album covers in detail, and created a questionnaire on surveymonkey.com. Textual analysis will help me to understand what certain music genres have in common where albums are concerned and the questionnaire results will help me to figure out what to do for certain audiences and what is most popular for certain genres, etc.

Coursework - Textual Analysis of CD Covers

CD Cover

Kodaline ~ In A Perfect World:

• Lots of blue - a calm colour
• The image has been taken in an isolated place, there is no one there except the 4 people that we can see.
• Quite a grainy image, not very clear. 
• The image relates quite well to the title, as it shows the sea and mountains etc. This is quite a good representation of the world and for some people this may be seen as perfect.
• The camera shot is an extreme long shot as it shows all of the surroundings and we cannot see the facial expressions. 
• The lighting is natural and quite high key
• The back is a complete contrast to what we see on the front, although it shows a similar scene, it is in the dark and only has a few splashes of pink in the sky.
• The fonts used are simple and easy to read.
• The four people on the front cover are quite obviously having fun and this could suggest that the music that has been created through for men just having fun.

David Bowie ~ The Next Day

• Complete album cover is black and white. This gives mixed messages as white normally has positive connotations whereas black gives negative connotations. 
• You cannot see David Bowies face on the cover as it is covered by a white square with the album title written in it. This leaves the audience questioning what his facial expression is and why it is covered up.
• This album makes an intertextual reference to one of Bowie's previous albums 'Heroes'. As you can see in the top right corner 'Heroes' has got a line through to show that it is not the 'Heroes' album.
• The name of the album also relates to the image as it is 'The Next Day' which implies time has moved on and is passing, so the use of an old image shows that time has passed since then and things are not the same.
• The camera shot is close up so you would be able to see his facial expressions if the white square was not there. 
• It is hard to tell what the lighting is as it is in black and white but I would assume that the lighting is low key.
• The back of the cover is also the 'Heroes' album covered over with a white square and new song titles etc. 
• The fonts used are easy to read and are the same on both the front and back

Two Door Cinema Club ~ Tourist History.

• The front of the album cover is quite dark and the only bright colours are in the cats eyes. The green is a connotation of envy but could also be seen as quite soothing, and the darkness represents mystery. 
• The image does not massively professional as it looks like something an average person could take. It is not really in a professional scene, it looks like it has been taken in a kitchen.
• The font is the typical font that we relate with Two Door Cinema Club as it is used on all of their merchandise and albums. 
• The way that the eyes are inside the 'OO' makes them the focus point of the whole album cover. 
• The album name is really quite small and the band name is a lot bigger, which could suggest that people will recognise the album from its image rather than the name. For example if someone saw it from far away they would notice the image before they notice the album name. 
• The camera shot is a close up but the cats face is mainly covered up by the text.
• The lighting is low key and it looks like the image has only been lit up by the flash of the camera.
• The back of the album is plain and again their signature font is used. The blue of the font represents calmness and the white of the background represents positivity and simplicity.

Magazine Cover Analysis.

Girl Talk Magazine.

The audience for girl talk magazine is around 7-13 year old girls. I know that this is the age group it is aimed at due to the amount of colour used, and some of the cover lines, and due to the name of the magazine, it is pretty obvious that it is aimed at girls. Also, as the magazine layout is rather busy, it is aimed at children, rather than people towards to top of the socio-economic scale.

The main image of Demi Lovato relates to the audience, as she is a typical role model for young girls. She has featured in a few childrens films, and also some childrens TV programmes. This would make her well known to children, and it would attract them to the magazine. The cover lines also relate to the audience, as they are somewhat immature, for example the word 'OMG!' would be used by children, and winning £100 would seem like a great prize to young children. There are also 6 quizzes on offer, ranging from 'Are you the BF boss?' to 'How do you rock?', these would appeal to children as they are things that they would like to know the answer to. The use of pinks and purples on the cover lets us know that it is aimed at girls as they are stereotypically girly colours and finally all of the girls featured on the front cover are ones that young girls could relate to and know about.

The representations used on the front cover are mainly positive as all of the girls are smiling which would lead people to think positively of young girls. Also there are no revealing images or seductive poses being used by the girls; they are all casual, friendly and a few show a bit of attitude which 7-13 year old girls will be beginning to use.

Womans Weekly.

The audience for this magazine is 40+ year old women, in class C, D and E on the socio-economic scale. I know that it is aimed at 40+ year olds, as the cover image shows Sheila Hancock, a woman in her 80's. Also, it talks about families which implies that it is for older women, and it has an article on knitting which is a stereotypical elderly woman hobby. Finally, there is an image of a couple walking their dog, and the couple are old. Had this magazine been for a younger audience, the cover image would have been of a younger celebrity, there would be more about clubbing and finding the perfect man, and a lot less about families. Also, the price and layout tells us that it is for class C, D and E's.

The main image relates to the audience as Sheila Hancock is 80 years old. This will attract an older audience as they may want to read about her, and they could probably relate to her. Also the cover lines relate to the elderly audience as they are about nuisance calls, budget dinners, soothing skin, knitting, holidays, pains, memories and a small bit about fashion. All of these topics relate to an older audience as it is what they are interested in. For example, most younger people are careless and spend their nights partying rather than worrying about pains and knitting. The cover line about fashion also relates to the audience as they are all items of clothing that would be more appealing to older people rather than younger. 

Finally, this magazine cover gives a positive representation of elderly women, as Sheila Hancock is smiling and looks happy in the cover image. There are no negative story lines other than 'Stop nuisance calls', but that does not really give a negative impression of elderly women.